Blow the candles out
by to-lick-a-fro
Summary: In a parallel universe, Blaine's father doesn't let him attend Dalton. He runs away and meets someone who's about to change his life. Rated T for suggested violence and minor adult themes.
1. Prologue: The power lines went out

P R O L O G U E 

'How many times do I have to tell you, Riza – we don't. Have. The. Money.'

'If he stays here it's just a matter of time before he gets beaten up at school, too!'

'WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?'

'You know you're too hard on him.'

'It's a father's duty to discipline his son!'

Short silence.

'You know you can't just beat him and hope it will make him straight.'

'I bloody well do what I want with my son! He's not going to that ridiculously expensive all-boys private school and that's the end of it!'

The clinking of ice against glass. Soft but brisk footsteps coming up the stairs. Blaine closed the door of his room as softly as he could, but not a second later he heard someone tapping on it.

'Honey?'

Blaine sighed and opened the door again. Without looking at his mother, he walked over to his bed and sat down on it, staring at his knees. His mother lingered by the door.

'I heard everything,' Blaine said, not looking up. 'And I could've written out the conversation beforehand. I knew every single thing he was going to say and it doesn't matter. It's just… it was worth a shot.'

He heard his mother breathe in, as if she was going to say something, but apparently she thought better of it and instead turned around and closed the door behind her. Blaine exhaled slowly. He had made up his mind. He wasn't going back to that hell called high school and his father wouldn't let him transfer, so that didn't leave him much choice. He'd packed his bag already, anticipating his father's refusal. He only had to wait until his parents were asleep. He didn't know where he was going to go but as far away as he could sounded like a plan.


	2. 1: And I am all alone

C H A P T E R O N E

Not entirely awake yet, Kurt stumbled into the Lima Bean with the intention of just grabbing his medium drip before he had to face an hour and a half of English literature. He definitely needed his coffee to be able to not fall asleep during the endless discussions about the representation of the Catholic church in the works of James Joyce. Stifling a yawn, he shuffled forward as the queue slowly progressed. Looking up to see whether he had to place his order yet, his eye fell on a lonely figure at the end of the coffee shop. A guy he'd never seen before, although he was obviously of his age. He definitely didn't go to McKinley, or Kurt would've known. Oh yes, he would've known – he was hard to miss. He possessed a head full of untamed, dark curls and, when he raised his head from his arms, a pair of long-lashed olive eyes blinked at the sunlight streaming through the windows. He looked sad though.

'Good morning. May I help you?'

Kurts head snapped back to the counter in front of him when a Lima Bean employee with long blond hair asked his order. For a second, Kurt's eyes trailed back to the other end of the coffee shop. The curly-haired guy had buried his face in his arms again.

'Sir?'

'Ah, yeah, sorry,' Kurt said. 'One medium drip, please.' The blond girl turned away to ready his order, when he made up his mind. 'Make that two,' he added quickly. He distractedly paid for his purchase and then, with the two steaming cups in his hands, walked over to the lost looking loner, hoping he liked his coffee this way.

'I'm sorry to disturb your undoubtedly refreshing nap in the corner of a noisy coffee shop, but I couldn't help noticing you were looking like you could need some of this stuff,' Kurt said, holding out one of the cups to the curls. Slowly, the guy raised his head, looking at Kurt with a face that spoke only of exhaustion. Kurt raised his eyebrows and decided to sit down opposite to him. 'Apparently, my eyes didn't deceive me,' he added, chuckling a little.

'Thanks,' the heavy-lidded stranger replied, taking a little sip. He looked at Kurt. 'I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why would you care?'

He didn't sound rude. Kurt smiled at him. 'I don't know. I think I just felt like you could use a friend, and I know the feeling. So here I am. I'm Kurt, by the way.'

'Blaine.'

They drank their coffee in silence for a while, Kurt not wanting to pressure Blaine into telling him anything he didn't want to share. After a couple of minutes of drinking and staring (on Kurt's part, anyway – Blaine seemed too distracted by the windows of the coffee shop and what was outside of them), Kurt put down his almost empty cup.

'Well, I should probably get to class,' he said unenthousiastically.

Blaine looked up. 'Oh. Right.'

'What are you going to do?'

'I don't know.'

Kurt looked at the guy and sighed. 'Okay, here's the deal. I'll skip class and stay here with you if you want, but then you have to quench my curiosity by telling me what you're doing here.'

For the first time, Blaine smiled a little. 'I'm sorry. I'm just so tired I can only seem to concentrate on one thing at a time. I would really appreciate it if you would stay.'

'Okay then. Spill.'

* * *

><p>'Well, that was definitely more interesting than listening to Mr. Gordon drone on and on about the use of stream of consciousness in <em>Ulysses<em>,' Kurt said. 'So you ran away because both your dad and pretty much everyone at your high school are a bunch of homophobic narrow-minded idiots, you ended up here and now you're out of money and you haven't got a place to go. Correct?'

Blaine nodded, screwing up his face whilst swallowing the last bit of cold coffee from his cup.

'Okay,' Kurt sighed. 'So, first of all, you need a place to stay. That's easy: you can come with me.'

'Wait, what? You mean – your place?'

'Of course I mean my place! Well, obviously I don't have my own place, but I'm sure my dad and my stepmom and Finn won't mind when I bring you. We have a guest room.' Kurt smiled at Blaine. 'So that's your first problem solved.'

Blaine looked at Kurt, incredulous. 'Are you kidding?'

Kurt raised his eyebrows. 'Oh no. I never kid. Now, you're also out of money, but that's something we can take care of easily enough while you stay with me. I'm sure you can get a job at a Gap or something. They always need people.'

Blaine shook his head. 'I can't believe this.'

'What?'

'That you're doing this for me.'

'Why wouldn't I?'

Blaine frowned. 'You have no idea who I am, I could be a serial killer or a cannibal or something!'

'I know exactly who you are. You're a gay guy who was bullied every single day of his life, desperate to escape and feeling like nobody cared one bit.' Blaine looked at Kurt, mouth open and eyes wide. Kurt smiled a little bitterly at him. 'I know _exactly_ who you are.'

'You too?' Blaine asked softly, after a couple of seconds of stunned silence.

'Yeah, well, it got better after a while, and I'm so lucky as to have an understanding father who just needed to do a course of Queers 101, but yeah – me too.'

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Kurt put his hands on the table. 'Shall we get going, then? I suppose you could do with a shower and a clean bed.'

'I don't smell like I'm homeless, do I?' Blaine asked worryingly. Kurt chuckled, throwing away the empty coffee cups and making his way to the door.

'Don't worry, I would've told you if I did.'

* * *

><p>'I can't believe you skipped school, Kurt! When Figgins called I thought you had gotten another death threat or something. Don't do that to me!'<p>

'Dad, I told you – it was an emergency! You should've seen him, he looked so helpless. I had to do something. Besides, with Karofsky on the other side of the country on his sports exchange death threats aren't exactly part of my daily routine anymore.'

Burt sighed.

'So what's his name again? And why is he sleeping in our guest room as we speak?'

'His name's Blaine and his dad's a homophobe.'

Burt stopped cleaning the bumper of the ancient Chevrolet he had gotten off of eBay a couple of weeks ago. 'Oh.'

'I told you it was an emergency.'

'Well, he should at least call his parents to let them know where he is. It's a terrible thing for a parent, not knowing where your child has run off to.'

'Dad, did I mention his father is a _homophobe_?'

'Kurt, as soon as he wakes up, he's going to call his parents. They need to know where he is.' Burt looked at his son. He understood how Kurt saw himself in this kid, and it hurt him to be remembered of all the things his son had had to go through. As if they could possibly forget. And to know that this happened to other kids too was something he shouldn't think about for too long or he would probably wreck his new car. Kurt was standing by the door of the garage, eyes wet with frustration. 'Son, I understand you want to help him. Of course I understand. But this is not our business. He has to figure this out himself. We can help him get in the right direction and we should support him where we can, but ultimately he has to solve this issue by himself.'

Kurt nodded and quietly slipped back into the house.

* * *

><p>'They're coming to pick me up tonight,' Blaine said, his voice flat. He put the phone back on it's dock and looked at Kurt, who couldn't stand the helplessness they showed. Kurt sighed, then stood up resolutely.<p>

'Okay. It's almost four hours from Waterford to Lima, so even if they would leave right now we still have some time. What do you want to do?'

Blaine frowned. 'Um. I don't know.'

'Well, what do you usually do in your free time?'

'Sing, I guess. I love singing.'

Kurt's eyes widened. 'No way! Me too, I'm a member of the glee club at my school!' He beamed at Blaine, who smiled back.

'Wow. Two gay guys who both like to sing and dance. Way to establish the stereotype.'

Kurt laughed. 'See, I knew you had a sense of humor down there somewhere. So, anything in particular you like to perform?' And with that he revealed a huge stack of sing-a-long CDs next to his stereo.

'Got any top 40?'


	3. 2: Couldn't finish what you started

C H A P T E R T W O

The posters were hard to miss. The obnoxious neon yellow lettering brought tears to your eyes and the fact that they were literally everywhere didn't help, either. Even when he was hiding in the toilets, Blaine was being visually abused as they'd actually put the posters inside the cubicles.

WATERFORD HIGH SCHOOL  
>presents<br>SADIE HAWKINS DANCE  
>Next week, tickets available at Student Administration<p>

'So are you going?'

Blaine looked up from his lunch to see one of the few people at Waterford High he actually liked: his friend Ethan. Wide-clothed and grinning as broad as ever, Ethan sat down across from Blaine.

Blaine snorted. 'What do you think? After my coming out being the biggest Waterford newsflash since Linday Lohan's latest arrest, I don't think any girl's going to ask me to a dance, so I might as well stay away. Probably better for everyone.'

Ethan shrugged and took a bite of his peanut butter sandwich. 'It might be fun though.'

'Yeah. Or they might verbally abuse me some more. I don't know, I think I'll let this one slide.' Blaine stared at the remains of the apple he was eating. 'What about you? Going to pretend to be straight for an evening?'

'If someone asks me, I'll go,' Ethan said, smiling.

'Even if it's a girl?'

'Even if it's a girl.'

Blaine chortled and shook his head. 'You are the bravest guy I know.'

* * *

><p>Another reason high school was definitely something to get through as fast as possible, Blaine thought disgruntled whilst struggling through his Calculus homework that evening. How could one subject be so boringly unchanging yet unfathomably unpredictable at the same time? He almost fell off of his chair when his phone suddenly started vibrating. He frowned. A text. Ethan always called because he's too lazy to type something into his cell, plus he was at home so it couldn't be his parents.<p>

How are you? Hope school's not treating you too rough. – K

Blaine smiled and considered a reply before simply dialing Kurt's number. All that dance drama would be too long for one text anyway.

'Hello?'

Blaine laughed softly. 'Hi.'

'What's so funny?'

'You actually do sound like a woman. I'm sorry, I shouldn't've said that.'

'That's okay, I've heard it too many times for it to actually be offensive,' Kurt replied, and Blaine could hear the smile in his voice. 'So, to repeat my earlier inquiry: how are you?'

'I'm… actually pretty good,' Blaine answered. He told Kurt all about the Sadie Hawkins dance and about his decision not to go.

'Hmmm.'

'What's that?' Blaine asked.

'I don't know, I think your friend Ethan is right, actually.'

'You mean I should go with a girl?'

'No no no, of course not, I mean that it could be kind of fun.'

'And how exactly do you fathom that?' Blaine asked, frowning. 'Because going to a dance party where pretty much all of the other people there are as afraid of two guys holding hands as they are of a terrorist attack isn't really my idea of fun.'

'Well, you could see the whole thing as a big screw you and go with a guy,' Kurt said tentatively.

Blaine was quiet for a couple of seconds. He hadn't thought about that. Then, he frowned. 'I don't have anyone to go with, and besides, they'd probably kick our asses before we even enter the gym.'

'I'm sure Ethan would love to join you,' Kurt said. 'But are the bullies really that bad? I thought they only shouted stuff?'

'They do,' Blaine said softly. 'But I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind taking it to the next level if they got the chance.'

'There'll be a lot of teachers present though, won't there?'

Blaine nodded. 'I guess so.'

'Look, if you don't want to go, I really don't want to be the one to pressure you into going anyway, but I think you should stand up for yourself,' Kurt said encouragingly. 'Show them that their words don't mean anything.'

'I'll think about it,' Blaine said, meaning every word.

'Good. Hey, we're doing this amazing Lady Gaga song in glee club this week, d'you wanna hear?'

* * *

><p>'Are you serious? I thought you weren't going!'<p>

Blaine, sitting in the huge red chair in the corner of Ethan's room, grinned a little sheepishly. 'Yeah. But I thought about it and, well, if you're up for it I think this could actually be fun.'

Ethan chuckled. 'I expected to be asked by a girl but hey, if you grow your hair out before the dance nobody will see the difference.' Blaine snorted. 'But just to get things clear,' Ethan added, 'we'll be going as friends, right?'

Blaine smiled. 'Yeah. Don't worry, I'm not developing some mad crush or something. Just friends.'

'Well, let's go color-coordinate our outfits then!' Ethan said in a spot-on impression of Tim Gunn's voice, dragging Blaine along to his oversized closet.

Blaine took a deep breath. He'd borrowed a tux from his father and although it was a little too wide around the shoulders, it didn't look half bad on him. Of course, he'd had to lie to his father to get it – if he'd told him he'd be going with Ethan all hell would've broken loose in the Anderson household. But as Blaine and Ethan had agreed to arrive seperately and Ethan's father would take him home at an hour where his father would be asleep for quite some time, he'd never know.

Standing in front of the entrance of the gym, Blaine could hear the dimmed sounds of what was going on inside. Some local band was playing and it sounded like half the students were already drunk at this point. Which was weird, because there wasn't even any alcohol allowed in there.

'Although I would've liked seeing you coming down the stairs and handing you your corsage myself, I must say you look like quite a catch in the dreary glow of the streetlights.'

Blaine laughed and turned around to see Ethan grinning at him.

'How incredibly romantic.'

'You know me, I can't help being the incarnation of Romeo Montague himself. So, looks like the party has started without us. Wanna go inside?'

'Sure.'

It was hot and crowded in the gym. Everyone was either dancing to the fast music the band was producing or hanging around the bar.

'You want something to drink?' Ethan shouted in Blaine's ear. Blaine nodded and Ethan darted away through the crowd. Blaine shrunk back against one of the walls, close to the exit. Having nothing better to do and not wanting to look around to find the faces of his class mates, he got out his phone and started browsing through his texts. Then, he suddenly found himself wishing Kurt was there. The thought confused him for a second.

'Here you go!'

Blaine looked up, quickly put his phone back in his pocket and accepted a plastic cup from Ethan, who looked like he'd just ran a marathon. He took a sip and almost choked.

'What is this stuff?' he asked Ethan a little hoarsely.

Ethan grinned as broad as ever. 'Oh, apparently someone spiked the punch.'

Blaine raised an eyebrow. 'Right. _Someone_.' Ethan tapped one of his pant pockets, where Blaine saw the outline of a medium-sized bottle. 'You're unbelievable.'

They stood there for a while, drinking their spiked punch, watching people dance. The evening progressed slowly, and Blaine didn't get what the big deal was about these kind of things. Just as he wanted to ask Ethan whether they could go home early, he got a text.

Having fun? – K

Blaine smiled and was about to text Kurt back, when the band started playing a slow song and suddenly, Ethan was standing in front of him.

'May I have this dance?'

He even bowed. Blaine laughed, put his phone away and took Ethan's hand. 'Maybe this isn't such a good idea,' he muttered, when Ethan pulled him onto the dance floor and Blaine recognized some faces in the crowd, their eyes following the tuxedoed twosome, frowning and judging.

'Probably not but I've had too much to drink to care,' Ethan said.

And soon enough, they were twirling around, surrounded by other dance couples. The song seemed to last forever and Blaine got increasingly uncomfortable. It wasn't Ethan (despite, or maybe thanks to the amount of alcohol he had consumed, he danced like a true gentleman) or even the fact that he hadn't been able to think of pretty much anything else but Kurt all night, but the atmosphere just wasn't right.

Finally, the song ended, and Blaine pulled Ethan along, off of the dancefloor.

'Let's go.'

Ethan, sensing there was no arguing Blaine, nodded and opened the door for him. The air was cool outside.

'I'm sorry,' Blaine said, breathing in deeply.

'That's okay. Are you allright?' Ethan sat down on the pavement, gesturing for Blaine to sit down next to him. As he did so, Blaine nodded. 'We'll just wait here until my dad comes to get us.' He stared into the dark street for a while. 'That was okay though, wasn't it? We didn't even get yelled at or anything.'

Blaine smiled a little. 'Yeah. I guess it was okay.'

The band started playing a hard rock song.

'So who texted you earlier?'

Blaine looked up, surprised. 'What do you mean?'

'Right before I asked you to dance, you were smiling at your phone. Secret lover?' Ethan asked, grinning widely.

'Just a friend. I think,' Blaine said, smiling a little.

Ethan raised his eyebrows. 'Oooooh, that definitely sounds promising. He is gay, I presume?'

'Yes.'

'Good. Do I know him?'

'No.'

'Name? Age? Height? Hair? Eyes? Does he have a handsome brother?' Ethan rambled.

Blaine laughed, but before he could answer, he heard the door of the gym open. He looked up and saw a group of their class mates coming outside. They were talking excitedly, but their tone alarmed him. When Blaine saw one of the girls point them out to the guys he knew were on the football team and looked like they'd had way too much punch, he knew he had to get out of there immediately.

* * *

><p>Kurt's phone rang. He sang along to his Katy Perry ringtone for a couple of seconds before answering. He didn't recognize the voice on the other side but after listening to the message it delivered it didn't matter – the only thing that mattered right now was that he got to Waterford as fast as possible.<p> 


	4. 3: Only darkness still remains

C H A P T E R T H R E E

The door opened and for a couple of seconds the bustling sounds of hospital life made their way into the small room. Blaine opened his eyes and blinked at the exuberant white all around him. He was propped up against a pile of pillows. A slender figure was making his way towards the bed. He smiled a little, but it hurt his head so he stopped.

'Oh my…' the voice whispered. 'Oh.'

Blaine heard him sitting down next to the bed, on the chair his mother had been sitting in about an hour ago. A soft but strong hand slid into his own. Kurt was looking at him intently. He tried to smile again.

'So what happened?'

'Turns out they didn't really appreciate my big screw you,' Blaine mumbled, closing his eyes again. The room had started spinning.

'I'm so sorry,' Kurt whispered. 'If I hadn't told you to go, even though you didn't want to, you wouldn't be here right now.'

'Don't worry about it. They would've gone and beat us up eventually anyway.' Blaine tightened his grip on Kurt's hand. 'And honestly, it could've been worse. I've only got a concussion and a couple of broken ribs, and Ethan got off pretty much scot-free.' Talking required a lot of energy, and he breathed in deeply. 'Ow.' His free hand slid to his ribs. He kept forgetting that breathing hurt. 'I'll probably be out of here in a couple of days. At least, I think they told me something like that.'

'I can't believe they actually beat you up,' Kurt said after swallowing audibly.

'I can't believe you're here,' Blaine said, trying to change the subject. He didn't really want to talk about it, especially since he had a hard time actually remembering any of it.

'Ethan called me. I'll explain later,' Kurt said, when he saw Blaine's puzzled frown. 'Don't exert yourself. You should try to get some sleep, it's really late. Or really early, depends on how you look at it.'

'How did you get here?'

'My dad drove me. He's waiting outside.'

'Thank him for me,' Blaine mumbled, opening his eyes for a split second to look at Kurt. Kurt smiled at him.

'I will. I have to go back though. Stay in touch?'

Blaine extended his arm towards the small cabinet next to his bed, and tapped his phone lying on top of it. Kurt smiled, squeezed Blaine's hand and left the room quietly.

* * *

><p>It was incredible how easy his parents made it for him to feel at home at the hospital. Even though they had the decency to take their heated argument out of his room, Blaine could hear them quite clearly through the thin walls.<p>

'He did this to himself!' he heard his father boom.

'I can't believe you. You think he _wanted _to get beaten up?'

'HE PUT HIS DISTASTEFUL SEXUAL PREFERENCES OUT THERE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE, WHAT ELSE DID HE EXPECT?'

'Your son is in the hospital thanks to those bullies at his school and you think this is his own fault? I honestly don't understand how your mind works.'

'He's in here because he's an indecent little brat who disrespects his father! Let's just hope he learns his lesson because it's an expensive one. I'm going to take care of the paperwork.'

Blaine heard his father stalk away. He could swear he heard his mother sob, but then he heard her footsteps follow her husband's. Blaine's headache had gotten worse overnight. He hadn't slept at all, and when his parents came in to visit him that morning, his father had refused to talk to him.

He didn't know how much time passed when his mother came into his room again, but Blaine suspected he'd dozed off for a couple of minutes.

'How do you feel?' his mother asked him, when he turned his head towards her.

'Fine.'

She sat down on the chair next to his bed. 'The nurse told us you had a visitor this morning.'

Blaine smiled involuntarily at the memory. 'Kurt.' When he saw the puzzled look on his mother's face, he added: 'The guy who helped me when I… when I ran away.' He didn't look at his mother.

'Didn't he live all the way in Lima?'

Blaine nodded.

'He must care about you if he came all this way in the middle of the night to see if you were okay.'

'I guess so.'

'Is he gay as well?'

'Mom…' Blaine sighed.

'I'm just curious! Isn't it a mother's job to pry shamelessly?'

Blaine rolled his eyes but smiled slightly. 'Yes, he's gay, too. Don't tell dad,' he added hastily. 'He'll never let me speak to him ever again. He practically banished Ethan from the street our house is on when he found out I hung out with him.'

He saw his mother nod, a sad look in her eyes. 'I won't tell him.'

* * *

><p>Being back at home had it's perks, Blaine thought as his stereo blasted Maroon 5 at maximum volume. Both his parents worked, so nobody bothered him during the day. It almost made the hellish family diners a little better. Almost. He wished he could shout along with Adam Levine but breathing in too deeply still made him wince. At least the headaches had stopped. He still couldn't remember clearly what had happened a week ago, but to be quite honest, he didn't know if he wanted to. He turned around to skip She Will Be Loved (right now he needed groovy, not sappy) and practically shrieked. Ethan turned off the radio.<p>

'I knew you didn't want to see me, but I hadn't quite expected a reaction like that,' he said with an impish grin.

Blaine clasped one hand to his ribcage and sat down on his bed. 'Ow, ow, ow.'

'Don't be such a wuss,' Ethan said, sitting down next to him. 'I'm sorry I scared you,' he added, his voice a little softer.

'How exactly did you get in here?' Blaine said, eyes wide and breath shallow.

Ethan pointed at the window. 'That tree outside is pretty ideally placed. You didn't answer the door and you didn't pick up your phone, but it was quite clear that you were home, so I climbed my way in. Don't tell me you never used that as a way of escape?'

'Maybe I will, now that I know it's humanly possible to survive something like that… Although your powers of survival have proved themselves to be quite extraordinary. As well as your powers of vanishing without a trace.' He knew he sounded hurt, but he didn't feel like hiding anything.

'Blaine, I'm sorry I didn't came to see you in the hospital.'

'Yeah, that was pretty harsh.'

'And I'm sorry I didn't answer any of your texts.'

Blaine kept quiet.

'But I just… I felt so _guilty._'

'What?' Blaine looked up, surprised. 'Why?' Why did all the wrong people feel guilty? First Kurt, and now Ethan. They hadn't done anything!

'I got out with nothing but a scratch and you ended up in the hospital. I should've helped you. I was able to help myself, and I felt terrible about the idea of you, all bloody and broken. I just… I'm sorry.' Ethan's voice actually broke.

Blaine chuckled softly, trying to restrain himself, but only seconds later he was bending over, laughing and crying at the same time. Ethan looked up and furiously wiped away a tear on his cheek. 'What's so funny?'

'I'm… I'm sorry,' Blaine gasped, clutching at his chest. 'Ow, haha, ow ow, I'm sorry, Ethan, I just… I just can't believe you sometimes.' He leaned back on his bed, his laughter fading into a light chuckle that was a lot easier on his bruised ribcage. 'Please stop feeling sorry for yourself, and for me. We both got out alive. We're still friends. Deal?'

Ethan managed a small smile. 'Deal.'

'Great.' Blaine sat up, ignoring his stinging ribs as he did so. 'Now, before you help me with some of my Calculus homework because I'm way behind and I don't understand any of it, I just want to know one thing.'

'Go ahead.'

'Why did you call Kurt?'

Ethan smiled. 'I figured you'd want him by your bedside. You like him, don't you?' Blaine blushed. 'See?' He laughed. 'I actually never saw you blush before. You look so cute!'

'Shut up and help me with my homework.'

* * *

><p>'My father wants me to go back to school on Monday.'<p>

'I can't believe it.' Kurt sounded upset. 'That's ridiculous. After what happened?'

Blaine stared at the tree outside his window, holding his phone to his ear. 'I know. But I can't do anything. He said he'll take me myself, and that if I skip any classes, he'll know.'

'Did your mother try to talk to him about Dalton again?'

'Yes, but they got into such a big fight that I think my mother actually slept in the guest room tonight.'

'Wow, that sounds serious.'

'Yeah, well, they haven't exactly gotten along for a while now. Curiously, their relationship troubles started pretty much around the time I came out.'

Kurt didn't know what to say. 'I wish I could help,' he mumbled after a couple of seconds.

'You are.' Blaine smiled.

'If calling you is helping you, I'll make sure to do that every break next Monday.' Blaine could hear him grinning.

'Please do,' he said. 'And don't forget to text me during class, as well.'

'You're pretty needy, aren't you?' Kurt chuckled.

'And you've only just brushed the surface.'


	5. 4: Lost sight, couldn't see

C H A P T E R F O U R_  
><em>

'Are you going to grace us with your attention, Mr Hummel?'

Kurt looked up, startled. 'Yes, of course. I'm sorry.' He quickly put his phone in the breast pocket of his Alexander McQueen jacket and tried to pay attention to Mr Gordon's monotonous voice once again. English literature was always tricky to get through, especially when he'd just send Blaine a text. He found himself wanting to check his phone every other minute. He was being way too desperate. He straightened his back, put a stray lock of hair behind his ear and looked at Mr Gordon, determined to pay attention. He was actually starting to understand what they were working on when he felt his breast pocket vibrate. Kurt sighed, looking at the clock. He couldn't risk taking out his phone again. He'd have to fight temptation for another fifteen minutes.

When the bell rang, Kurt dived for his phone first thing.

Stop contacting me.

Kurt's mind froze. He felt very hot for a second, then shivered. His hand shook slightly.

'Kurt, are you coming? Glee club next,' Mercedes' voice said somewhere close to the door of the classroom.

'Just a sec,' Kurt said absent-mindedly. As people were filing past him to get to their next classes, Kurt remained frozen on the spot, staring at his phone. When Mr Gordon put his empty mug on his desk a little more noisily than necessary, Kurt snapped out of it. Quickly, he grabbed his bag and practically ran for the door, clutching his phone close to his chest. He dove into the boy's room and locked the door of the only empty stall behind him. He dialed Blaine's number and waited anxiously for a response.

'Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up,' Kurt mumbled, as the phone rang a couple of times.

'Hi,' a familiair voice said, and Kurt exhaled softly, only to get his relief destroyed when the voice continued, 'this is Blaine Anderson. I'm not available at the moment, but please sing your message after the beep.' Beep.

Kurt slowly lowered his phone. He stared, defeated, at the door of the toilet stall. Why had Blaine decided to break contact with him? They'd talked practically every day over the phone, telling each other about how useless their classes and narrow-minded their fellow students were. Kurt had gotten a little worried over the last couple of weeks, as Blaine had told him the bullying had intensified again, after a calm period that had directly followed the prom incident. He'd tried to cheer Blaine up by singing to him and it'd worked pretty well, but Kurt had started to feel a little helpless. Only yesterday, Blaine had told him that he wished he didn't have to go back to school, how much he hated it there. Kurt had wanted to hug Blaine, to comfort him not through that stupid telephone but face to face. Saying that on the phone had actually made him blush furiously. And now this. He felt hurt, and this made him realise how much more he cared about Blaine than he'd originally thought.

* * *

><p>'What's wrong?' Mercedes asked, looking at him curiously.<p>

'What?'

'I asked what's wrong. You've been acting weird all day. You didn't even sign up for the coming diva-off. You can't just let it be Rachel and me again, it's getting boring.'

Kurt shouldered his bag and got up to leave the auditorium. 'Even though I'd love to show to both of you and the rest of glee club that I'm still, and always will be, the king of musical numbers, my mind is somewhere else at the moment.'

'You can tell me,' Mercedes said, walking next to him.

'It's Blaine. I think he's in trouble.'

* * *

><p>'You can't do that!'<p>

'I am your father!'

'I want - my phone - _back_,' Blaine said in the calmest voice he could manage at this point.

'You stop talking right now, young man!' His father towered over him, his finger dangerously close to Blaine's face. Blaine looked up at him, his eyebrows scrunched together, his jaw clenched. For a couple of seconds, they were both silent, apart from their mutual panting. Then, Blaine whipped around and went upstairs. He slammed the door of his room behind him and winced when he threw himself on his bed, a dramatic move that he could've gotten straight out of a black and white drama. He'd forgotten about the bruises on his abdomen and he gingerly rolled on his back.

He wished he could talk to Kurt, but his father had made his point quite clear: being friends with Kurt _obviously_ made him more gay, if that was even possible. By taking away his phone and thereby his ability to communicate with other queers, Blaine would eventually turn straight and grow up to be exactly the man his father wanted. All very reasonable and pedagogically sound, of course, not to mention the boost it gave the father-son relationship. Blaine sighed deeply, sitting up. He had never expected his mother to keep secrets from his father for very long, since he could be very persuasive, as he demonstrated on a daily basis. Yeah, Blaine thought, manipulative, more like.

He couldn't do anything about it. He obviously wasn't getting his phone back, so he couldn't talk to Kurt. He could always talk to Ethan, if he managed to survive the way from classroom to canteen without getting thrown into a dumpster or getting a fist to the stomach like today. And even then, what could he do? It was Kurt he needed. Kurt, with his dry, sarcastic jokes and his angelic singing voice. With his harsh-but-honest fashion advice and his attempts to make his day a little better, no matter what. He needed Kurt, and, after their conversation yesterday, he'd gotten the tiniest sparkle of hope that maybe, Kurt needed him, too.

* * *

><p>'My son comes home covered in bruises every day! You can't just let that happen!'<p>

His mother listened, agitated, with her free hand firmly on her hip. She was pacing up and down in front of Blaine, who was sitting on the couch with an icepack to his ribs. It had been two months since the beating and his ribs had fully healed, but it was still a soft spot, and when one of the particularly burly jocks had put his fist there with considerable force, it hadn't been exactly pleasant. The school nurse was so kind as to call his mother, but after she arrived she hadn't been able to talk to the principal, as much as she insisted. As soon as they'd gotten home and she had provided Blaine with said icepack, she had grabbed the phone.

'No, of course it's not his own fault. You think he wants to get beaten up? Because that's what's happening!'

Blaine watched his mother listen to the headmaster's reply. Her eyebrows were going up at an alarming rate and she threw her hand up in frustration as she yelled into the phone: 'You are all a bunch of intolerant, homophobic idiots!_ Isinusumpa kita_!' And with that, she hung up and hurled the phone as far away from herself as possible. She stood there for a while, silent and panting, before she looked at Blaine. 'Pretend you didn't hear that,' she mumbled, as she sat down next to him. Blaine sniggered.

'I can't believe you just said that to my headmaster.'

Despite herself, his mother smiled slightly. 'Me neither. I've probably gotten both of us in trouble now.'

Blaine shrugged. 'They didn't like me anyway.' He removed the icepack from his ribs and put it on the table. He looked at his mother. 'Mom, could you try talking to dad one more time?'

She closed her eyes and sighed. 'Sure, honey.' She put an arm around him and carefully pulled him close. 'Sure.' They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, Blaine listening to his mother's heart slowing down to it's regular rhythm. 'You know,' she said, 'your father's going away for business next week.'

Blaine sat up straight. 'Where?'

'Germany.'

'And he'll be gone the entire week? When is he leaving?'

His mother nodded, a sad smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. How tragic to see a son so happy over the absence of a father. And yet, how completely understandeable, in this case. She rubbed his shoulders and stood up. 'He'll actually be away for two weeks. He's leaving the day after tomorrow.'

* * *

><p>Kurt was getting more and more anxious as the days flew by. Blaine still didn't pick up his phone and he hadn't texted him anymore since <em>that<em> text. The most horrible worst case scenarios were playing through his head and he wasn't able to concentrate on school at all. Mercedes had tried to calm him down on several occassions where he'd been close to a panic attack. And now, he was sitting at home, on the couch, trying to watch television with his dad. Obviously, he didn't care about the sport's programme that was on but his father was trying to cheer him up in his own way and it was the thought that counted.

He practically jumped up when his phone rang. His eyes widened. 'It's Blaine,' he breathed, and he sprinted for the quiet hallway.

'Hello?'

'Kurt!'

'Blaine? Oh my – I thought you were dead or something! Why didn't you call? Why didn't you want me to contact you anymore?' He knew he sounded hysterical but he honestly couldn't care less.

'What? No, no, no – that was my dad. I'm so sorry, Kurt. He took my phone. He's away on business for two weeks and my mother gave it back to me the minute he left the house.'

'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine. You?'

'Yeah.'

Kurt breathed deeply and sat down on the bottom step of the stairs. There was a silence, but it wasn't awkward. They were simply listening to each other breathing, both grateful for the other's safety.

'I missed you,' Kurt blurted out. He put his hand on his mouth. He hadn't meant to say that. It was true, of course, but he hadn't been planning on telling Blaine. At least not right now. The silence that followed this statement made him fear the worst. He heard Blaine clear his throat softly.

'I missed you, too.'


	6. 5: When it was you and me

_Thanks to everybody who's been commenting on this so far! I really appreciate it. This is the second to last chapter and it's a little longer than usual. I hope you like it!_

_x Janneke_

* * *

><p>C H A P T E R F I V E<em><br>_

'Blaine, there's someone at the door!'

He rolled his eyes as he heard his mother shout at him. He got up from his bed, carefully put his guitar away and ran down the stairs. Why couldn't his mom open the door? She was already downstairs anyway, and now he –

'Hi!'

Opening the door, a familiar face grinned at him cheekily. Blaine stared, unable to speak for a few moments.

'Why… are you here? In Waterford? At my house?' he managed to blurt out. Kurt invited himself in, passing Blaine in the door opening. He greeted Blaine's mother, who had come out of the kitchen, wearing an equally impish grin. 'This is a plot, isn't it?' Blaine asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at them.

Kurt turned around. 'Yes,' he said, an exceptionally smug look on his face. 'We're here to kidnap you.'

Blaine, having recovered a little from the initial shock, smiled incredulously. 'Kidnap me? Where to?'

'We're staying at this cottage at Cedar Creek State Park for a week,' Kurt said, waving his hand in a way that said it didn't really matter where they were going. 'You should get your stuff, my parents are waiting.' He pointed through the open front door at the big sand-coloured Chevrolet. Blaine saw Burt waving at him and he feebly waved back. He looked back at Kurt and his mother.

'You arranged this?'

His mother nodded at Kurt. 'He did. He just asked my permission, which I, of course, granted whole-heartedly, as it's spring break and you should go out and have some fun.' She carefully avoided mentioning the events of the past few months or the convenient absence of his father. 'Now you should go and pack, or do you want to keep them all waiting?'

Laughing, Blaine sprinted up the stairs.

* * *

><p>The two-and-a-half hour drive from Waterford to the Park was over before they knew it, thanks to the soothing music that came out of the iPod Kurt and Blaine were sharing. Kurt, sitting in the middle, had put his head on Finn's shoulder and Blaine, in turn, had rested his curls against Kurt's. Carole, laughing silently, had taken a picture on her cell phone when she saw the uncharacteristically serene spectacle behind her.<p>

They'd parked outside the wooden cabin. Burt, grinning at Carole, put his fist to the horn three short but incredibly noisy times. The three boys each sat up straight immediately, the same dazed look on their faces.

'We're there,' Burt said, while Carole pushed him in a loving manner.

'Obviously,' Kurt muttered, after stifling a yawn.

'Don't be so mean,' Carole said to Burt, getting out of the car. 'Come on boys, get your things and settle in.'

The cabin was a lot spacier than it appeared to be on the outside, and Finn, Kurt and Blaine all had their own rooms downstairs. The living room, that was seperated from the kitchen by a huge book case, had a couple of very cosy-looking couches and a big fireplace. It had a bit of a wintery feel about it, but it fit the weather – even though it was the first week of April, it was grey, chilly and damp outside.

* * *

><p>That night, Burt got the fire going and Carole was in the kitchen, filling the entire cabin with the delicious smell of homemade cookies. Finn was in his room, probably talking to Rachel on the phone, while Kurt and Blaine were on the couch, reading Marie Claires and commenting on the most ridiculous outfits they could find. Well, Kurt did most of the commenting, Blaine just laughed and enjoyed the warmth of the fire.<p>

Actually, it was more than just the fire that caused him to feel fuzzy and utterly happy inside. The whole atmosphere this family exuded was completely new and amazing to him. He was basking in their domestic bliss and suddenly understood why people would want to get married and have babies. He always associated it with inevitability and social acceptance, as his parents never really seemed to like being married to each other. And his father never seemed to be too happy to have _him_ around, either. But this, this was totally different. These people genuinely loved each other and it was a completely new experience for him.

'Who wants warm milk with their cookies?' Carole called from the kitchen.

Finn, who had just returned to the living room, flopped onto the couch next to the one Kurt and Blaine were sitting on and raised his hand excitedly. 'Me!'

'Yes, please,' Kurt answered. He looked at Blaine, who raised his eyebrows slightly. 'And Blaine would like some coffee!' Kurt added, grinning.

* * *

><p>'We're going to play some basketball!' Finn called, as he opened the door, letting in air that smelled like freshly cut grass. 'See you later!'<p>

Burt had grabbed the ball they'd brought with them and followed Finn out after kissing Carole on the cheek. 'Bye!'

'Boys, I'm going to do some grocery shopping,' Carole told Kurt and Blaine, who were enjoying their morning coffee at the kitchen table. 'Do you have any plans today? Or do you want to come with me?'

Kurt raised his eyebrows at Carole. 'Grocery shopping? Really?' He put down his coffee mug and looked at Blaine. 'I was thinking we could go sunbathing by the lake,' he proposed with an excited smile. The weather was exceptionally nice and Kurt couldn't wait to get a little tan – it would look amazing with his new white coat. Blaine frowned. 'I'm not very good at lying still for a very long time,' he confessed.

'You could always rent a boat and go up the lake,' Carole suggested. 'That way you'd have the sun and the action.'

'You sound like a commercial,' Kurt snorted, but he noticed Blaine's excitement and a few minutes later they were making their way towards the lake.

'Have you ever been boating on a lake before?' Kurt asked. Blaine shook his head.

'No, but I'm sure it's very easy.'

It wasn't. They spend their first half hour on the lake trying to figure out how to stop their boat from spinning the moment their oars touched the water. When they finally managed to actually get onto the lake instead of drifting around the edges, the sun had practically vanished.

'I can't believe I let myself get talked into this,' Kurt grumbled.

'Oh come on, you're having fun.' Blaine was trying to manoeuvre the boat around a small island in the middle of the lake. As long as Kurt didn't touch the oars, they were able to avoid any head-on collisions with other boats or, in this case, small chunks of land. 'Just because you're not very good at it doesn't mean you can't have fun.' He chuckled slightly.

Kurt crossed his arms and started humming the theme to Titanic.

'Don't!' Blaine said, laughing. 'You'll jinx us!'

By the time Blaine succesfully finished steering the boat around the island, Kurt was singing 'My Heart Will Go On' at the top of his lungs and Blaine had to let go of the oars and lean back to catch his breath.

'My arms hurt,' he panted when Kurt was done singing. 'I'm not sure whether I'll be able to get us back to the shore. We might have to swim.'

Kurt's eyes widened for a second before Blaine started laughing again. Determined to get his revenge, Kurt turned up the sleeve of his shirt and started splashing water at Blaine. The splashes were surprisingly well-aimed and before long, Blaine sat spluttering, his dark blue T-shirt soaked. Kurt laughed, but when he saw Blaine's arm move to the surface of the water, he launched himself forward to stop him.

'Don't! This is a Westwood shirt! Westwood! Have mercy!'

But it was too late. Soon, they were both soaked to the bone, struggling against each other to beat the other one to the water and laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

'I… surrender,' Kurt panted, sitting down next to Blaine with a wet thud that shook the small boat. Blaine made a gesture that spoke of victory and world domination and tried to catch his breath for the second time that day. For a moment, the sun burst through the clouds. Blaine looked up to catch Kurt staring at him. Kurt quickly looked away. Blaine didn't. The way the sunlight caressed Kurt's mahogany hair and turned it to gold made him blink. He wanted to reach out and touch it. Kurt tentatively looked at Blaine again and, in a heart-stoppig moment, he noticed how close they were. He wasn't sure if he was making this up, but he could swear Blaine was leaning in.

The sharp, eardrum-piercing sound of a shotgun made them jump apart. A startled flock of birds emerged from the tree tops and they could hear a couple of dogs barking.

'I forgot they plan hunting parties,' Kurt said, staring wide-eyed at the shore.

'We – we should probably get out of their way,' Blaine mumbled, a little shaken.

'Probably.'

They looked at each other and sniggered a little. It wasn't necessarily awkward, but the unresolved tension was obvious and still very much there.

'Do you want me to help you out and spare your poor arm muscles?' Kurt inquired.

Blaine grinned. 'The way you row? We won't be back at the shore until midnight. Let me handle this,' he said, and he laughed as Kurt splashed some more water his way.

* * *

><p>The weather pretty much went downhill from there. The next couple of days were spent mostly inside, as the rain was pounding against the windows. Kurt and Blaine had claimed one of the couches and barely moved. They read some more magazines, talked a lot and watched their favourite video clips, while Finn and Burt tried to talk them into watching a sport's game. Much to Kurt's dismay, Blaine actually enjoyed football and one night, he had to sit through an entire evening of sport's talk. But after that, they let him put When Harry Met Sally on, so no hard feelings.<p>

Finally, on the last day of their stay in Cedar Creek, the skies were a clear, pale blue instead of the murkish grey they'd been before. The sun was shining tentatively, as if it wasn't completely sure it was allowed to, but it was there. Kurt was up very early and bounced around the cottage, trying to get the others excited for his plans.

'Come on, it'll be fun! We haven't had a picnic for ages!'

'Yeah, there's probably a reason why,' Burt grunted, grabbing some toast. Definitely not a morning person.

Kurt didn't let that stop him, but when pretty much everyone had turned him down, he sat down on the couch with his cup of coffee, trying to think of other ways to convince the others. He looked up when Blaine walked in, his curls tangled and his eyes still half closed.

'Coffee's here,' Kurt said, and Blaine sat down next to him. 'So, are you in?'

Blaine took a sip and looked at Kurt questioningly. 'In for what?'

'A picnic!'

'Isn't it going to rain again today?'

'You haven't looked outside yet, have you?'

Finn, who was sitting at the table enjoying his eggs and bacon, chimed in. 'I just checked the weather reports and they all say it's going to rain later today.'

'Finn, don't talk while you eat,' Carole said.

'So?' Kurt said, looking at Blaine with a smile. 'You in?'

* * *

><p>As if he had a choice, Blaine thought, but he smiled as he followed Kurt into the woods with a basket filled with food. Kurt had taken care of everything and was sure he knew where he was going. Blaine was fine with all of it. He felt a little apathetic – this was their last day before… He really shouldn't go there. He should enjoy all of this.<p>

Lost in thought, he bumped into Kurt, who had suddenly stopped walking. 'What's wrong?' He asked, but then he looked over Kurt's shoulder. 'Oh.'

The most perfect patch of green, encircled by enormous trees, was glittering at them – the sunlight had turned every single drop of rain that had fallen the last couple of days into a small crystal. Kurt clapped his hands in delight. 'This is it!'

Blaine shook his head, staring at Kurt. 'Amazing.'

'I know!' Kurt said, stepping forward. 'Come on, let's put down the cloth so we can sit down.'

Kurt had provided them with everything they needed: strawberries, rolls, iced tea and a lot of chocolate. After they finished eating, they simply lay down on the cloth and enjoyed the sun. Kurt was on his back, his arms close to his sides. Blaine was next to him, his head on his arms as he lay on his stomach. He was looking at Kurt, who appeared to be sleeping. Blaine wished he could look at him forever. He was just about to reach out and stroke Kurt's hair when he felt something cold on the back of his head. He looked up. Big rainclouds were appearing over the tree tops, obscuring the sun.

'Kurt,' Blaine said softly, smiling at the unmoving boy next to him.

'Hmm?'

'Don't you feel that?'

Kurt's eyes opened and the look of contentment that had emphasized his facial features was gone in a second. 'You've got to be kidding me,' he groaned, sitting up. 'Please don't tell me it's going to rain, that'll mess up my hair!'

'I guess Finn was right,' Blaine said, packing up their things. 'If we want to get back to the cabin without getting just as drenched as the other day, we should probably run.' Strangely enough, this turn of events made him feel a little giddy. He stood up, ushered Kurt off of the cloth and stuffed it inside the basket. 'Let's go!' And without thinking, he grabbed Kurt's hand and started running through the woods.

Soon enough, the rain was pouring down at such a rate, Blaine started slipping on branches and leaves.

'Let's find a place to hide!' Kurt yelled at him when there was some rumbling in the distance, promising thunder. He was holding a hand above his head, obviously trying to save his hair.

They found a smallish cave-like construction somewhere close to a huge tree trunk. They could both sit in it quite comfortably, with room to spare for the basket. They used the picnic cloth again and waited. For a while, they simply sat there, listening to the rain. Kurt shivered.

'Stupid rain,' he muttered. 'Messed up my hair. It looked perfect today.'

'Your hair looks fine,' Blaine said, smiling. Kurt looked at him, his eyebrows raised. 'Okay, maybe it's a little _flat_,' he added, making Kurt sigh dramatically. 'But look at mine. It starts curling even worse when it's wet. It's horrible, I can't do anything with it.'

'It's not horrible,' Kurt said softly.

'You think so?'

They were looking at each other, soaked and shivering, and started laughing at exactly the same moment. There was no particular reason, except that this whole situation was just so ridiculous and ironic at the same time, and they were here, they were together and it was their last day and they didn't want it to end – and then suddenly, neither would be able to recall afterwards how it had happened exactly, but suddenly, they were kissing.

They were kissing as the lightning first flashed. The thunder that followed was so loud it made their eardrums ache. They broke apart, staring into each other's eyes for a few seconds.

'Well, that was definitely an Oscar-worthy moment,' Kurt remarked drily.

'Couldn't've timed it better myself,' Blaine grinned. Then, he looked away, staring at his hands.

'What's wrong?' Kurt asked.

'I don't want to go home.' He looked up at Kurt. 'This week has been the best week of my life, and it's kind of sad that I'm not even exaggerating. But it has. And going back means that I won't be able to see you everyday. It means that I'll have to go back to school and face those bullies, and it means that I'll come home to my parents fighting and my dad taking back my phone so I won't be able to call you or text you or –'

Kurt shut him up by kissing him again. When he pulled away, he took Blaine's face in his hands. 'Listen to me.' They were inches apart. 'Are you listening?' Blaine nodded. 'We'll be fine. If your dad takes your phone, we'll email. If he disconnects you from the internet, we'll write letters. When he starts chopping off your fingers to stop you from writing me… Well, then we should probably call the police.' Blaine giggled in spite of himself. Kurt looked at him, his eyes tender and his smile warm, his thumbs stroking Blaine's cheekbones. 'We will be fine,' he repeated, emphasizing the 'we'.

And to prove his point, he pressed his lips against Blaine's once again, as the thunder slowly subsided.

* * *

><p>The drive back was quiet like the last time they were in the car together, but it was a different kind of quiet. Kurt wasn't dozing off with his head on Finn's shoulder – he was concentrating on his hand, which was softly stroking Blaine's. Blaine was staring out of the car window. Every second, that car brought him closer to saying goodbye to Kurt.<p>

Inevitably, after about two and a half hours, they entered the street Blaine's house was on. But there was something different, Blaine thought, when the car pulled up to the house. It took him a second to realize what was wrong, but then his heart sank.

'Oh no…' he whispered.

'What's wrong?' Kurt asked, disliking the tone of Blaine's voice.

Blaine pointed at the grey BMW, parked on the drive. He looked at Kurt, barely able to keep it together.

'That's my dad's car.'


	7. 6: I'm beginning to see the light

_I want to thank everybody who has read this story and commented on it, I really appreciate it! This is the last chapter, but don't fret: there'll be an epiloge and it'll be the epitome of fluffiness, I promise :D I hope you enjoy this last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_x Janneke_

* * *

><p>C H A P T E R S I X<p>

'Your father and I are getting a divorce.'

Blaine stared at his mother. He'd warily endured the shouting match that had ensued when he'd entered the house after saying goodbye to Kurt and his family, going up to his room when his father was done telling him he was a lousy son once again. Then, he'd listened to his parents fight some more, because apparently they hadn't done that enough before he'd arrived. And now his mother was sitting next to him on his bed, her eyes red and her hands slightly shaking, telling him something he'd wanted to hear for years.

'So,' Blaine mused, 'that means we're moving, right?' A seed of hope had been planted in his heart. His dad would probably want to keep the house, because they'd moved here because of his job. He would obviously go and live with his mother, so that meant he would get to leave his high school and start all over at someplace new.

His mother nodded silently. 'I'll start looking for a job and we'll be out of here as soon as we can.'

'Good.'

Blaine felt his mother's eyes on him, but he didn't return her gaze. He knew she was wondering whether he was okay, and he wished he could tell her that he was, but he was sure he'd start crying the moment he'd open his mouth. He didn't even know exactly why he felt like crying. Probably just a reaction to too much emotions in too short a timespan.

His mother stood up. 'I'm going to talk to your father to arrange some things,' she said.

Blaine's head snapped up. 'Please don't yell. Please. Just… talk. Okay?' If he'd hear his parents shout at each other one more time, he'd snap.

His mother nodded and left the room. She closed the door behind her and Blaine lowered himself into his pillows. If only Kurt could've stayed.

* * *

><p>When Blaine came downstairs to get breakfast the next morning, he found his mother sitting with her head in her hands, elbows on the table. He frowned. It was Saturday. His mother usually worked on Saturdays. He walked over to the fridge and his mother looked up.<p>

'Good morning,' she said. Blaine noticed the phone lying on the table with her, accompanied by the newspaper and a couple of other documents.

'Good morning,' he replied, fixing himself some breakfast. 'No work today?'

'I just quit my job.'

Blaine turned around. 'Already?' He cleared his throat, aware that his voice had just gone up in pitch. His mother chuckled a little sadly.

'Yes. I figured if we're going to get out of here, we might as well do it soon. I only need to decide where we're going. And that's where you come in. Do you have Kurt's parent's telephone number?'

Blaine frowned, confused by this question. Was it just him or were the two subjects in no way connected? Maybe his brain was still half asleep. 'What?'

'I want to talk to Carole. I remember you telling me she used to be a single mother. I need some advice.'

Blaine shook his head to get rid of the last remnants of sleep. 'I don't have it but I could text Kurt,' he said, still a little confused. By now, the hint of a mad idea had formed in his brain. An idea he couldn't possibly say out loud, ever. But what if… No. He took a determined bite of his toast and got out his phone.

* * *

><p>A knock on the door.<p>

'Honey?'

'Come in,' Blaine said absently, pondering a difficult Calculus problem.

His mother entered the room, lingering a little by the door. Blaine looked up. 'What's up?'

'I just got off the phone with Carole.' There was something in her eyes that made Blaine sit up from lying on his stomach. He narrowed his eyes.

'And?'

She was practically giggling now. Blaine raised his eyebrows. Whatever Carole had told his mother, it must've been something really good. Blaine shook his head slowly as something clicked in his brain. Something really good…

'No way,' he mumbled, as his mother ran towards him and practically hugged the air out of his lungs. 'No way.'

'We're moving to Lima!' his mother said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. She didn't let go as she explained that Carole had told her all about Lima and McKinley and the trip to Cedar Creek. 'And she told me she knew a small, cheap place near the city centre and we can move in right away! Can you believe it?'

* * *

><p>'I can't believe it!'<p>

'Right?' Blaine said. It took everything in his power not to choke up just thinking about it. 'I'm going to go to the same school as you. We're going to be able to see each other every single day. You could come over to my place and I can come over to your place… It's going to be amazing.' He heard Kurt swallow at the other end of the line. 'Are you okay?'

'Of course I'm okay,' Kurt replied, but his voice was a little higher than ususal. He inhaled noisily. 'Why shouldn't I be okay?' He swallowed again and cleared his throat. 'You understand that I'm going to have to help you pack, obviously. I saw the suitcase you'd taken with you to Cedar Creek and let me tell you – that was not conveniently packed. Not convenient at all.'

Blaine chuckled. 'Thanks. My mom told me she wanted to move out as soon as we can so I think we'll be packing next weekend.'

'I'll be there. At least, as long as my dad'll drive me. I'm sure he'll want to help as well, though.'

'That would be great, I'm sure my mom will appreciate it.'

'I still can't believe it!'

* * *

><p>The house had been exceptionally quiet that week. Blaine's father had avoided the place as much as possible, spending more and more hours at the office. It almost felt like he had moved out, as opposed to Blaine and his mother leaving him. But once you got past the front door, there was a whole different scenario playing out. Labelled half-packed boxes were littering the floor in every room and Blaine's mother was commenting on stuff she'd wanted to get rid of since forever every other minute.<p>

'I should've thrown this out years ago,' when she took down a particularly ugly painting.

'Where did we get this? It's hideous!' as she examined a small statue of a silver Cupid.

'Your father can have this, his sister gave it to us,' after putting a book called 'Arranging your garden gnomes' back on the shelf.

Every day when Blaine got home from school, he'd find the house a little emptier. Slowly but surely his mother was putting half of everything the house contained in boxes, leaving he other half for his father. They had agreed to leave the furniture – Blaine's father would help pay for the furniture they'd buy when they'd get settled in Lima. Blaine was fine with all of this but had insisted on taking his bed with him.

* * *

><p>Blaine had been counting down the days for a week, and finally, it was Saturday again. His father was at the office once again, and his mother was rummaging around in the shed as Blaine ran downstairs to answer the door.<p>

Burt and Kurt both grinned at him. Blaine let them in.

'I'm so glad you could come,' Blaine said after hugging Kurt. 'My mom's in the shed,' he told Burt, 'I think she's looking for some more boxes to use.'

'I figured you might need some more, so we brought some with us,' Burt said. 'I'll go tell her.'

Blaine stared at Burt as he left through the back door to find Blaine's mother. 'That's amazing.' He looked at Kurt. 'You guys are amazing.'

'I know,' Kurt said with a dismissive hand gesture and a smile. 'Let's go pack up your stuff!'

They were sitting on the floor, a few boxes filled with books and magazines between them.

'You have to decide what you want to take with you and what you want to throw out,' Kurt told Blaine.

'But I want to take all of it with me,' Blaine said, eyes wide.

'This is all junk!' Kurt exclaimed. 'Look, I'm sure you'll never read…' – he felt around in one of the boxes for a while – '_this_ ever again.' He held up a tattered copy of a magazine on model trains. 'It's dated 1996! Don't you people ever throw anything away?'

Blaine chuckled. 'Not really. It's probably a good thing you're here, I'd just taken all this rubbish with me.'

Kurt looked at Blaine for a few seconds.

'What?' Blaine said, catching Kurt's gaze. Kurt just shook his head a little.

'You're adorable.'

Blaine felt himself go pink. Kurt started laughing.

'You're blushing! I can't believe it, you're actually blushing.'

Blaine rolled his eyes. 'I can't help it, you're –'

He couldn't finish his sentence as Kurt had reached over the boxes and kissed him. He grabbed onto Kurt's head, burying is fingers in those perfectly sculpted locks, as if he was afraid he'd fall if Kurt would pull away. His stomach was doing all sorts of weird things but he wasn't paying attention. They were in his room and Kurt was kissing him. Nothing else mattered. Not even a pair of eerily familiar-sounding shoes coming up the stairs.

The door swung open and Kurt and Blaine broke apart, staring at the tall figure in the doorway. Blaine stood up immediately, as if he was ordered to. His father's eyes were wide, conveying shock and, most terrifyingly, rage.

'Abomination!' he yelled. 'Sodomites!'

Blaine heard Kurt splutter something in disbelief and indignation, but Blaine shook his head at him. 'Don't. I need to handle this myself.' He turned back and faced his father, who stood fuming in front of him, looking like he'd just run a marathon.

'Father, this is Kurt. He is my _boyfriend_.' He took a deep breath. 'I know you don't approve of us, but you have to know that you don't have the right to judge us. You and mom weren't exactly a good example of a nice, straight marriage.'

His father had gone quite red in the face, alarmingly so. Blaine was afraid he might actually hit him. He heard other footsteps running up stairs and he saw Burt and his mother appear behind his father. They evidently wanted to get his father out of there, but Blaine told them the same thing he told Kurt. He had to deal with this himself. His father didn't even turn around. His eyes were on Blaine and Blaine alone. He seemed to struggle to find the right words for his anger. Then, he seemed to calm down a little and Blaine actually felt a tiny spark of hope. Had a direct confrontation been the key? Was his father going to walk away without a word, or even better, would he _apologize_?

When his breathing had gone back to normal and he wasn't as red anymore, his father opened his mouth.

'You are not my son.'

For a second, Blaine felt as though his heart had dropped out of his chest. His father could've hit him in the face and it wouldn't've hurt this much. But it was only a second. He felt a warm hand slip into his and knew Kurt was standing next to him. He saw his father's eyes flutter from Blaine to Kurt and back again, and for the tiniest fragment of a second, Blaine thought he saw something remarkably close to fear. And in that moment, Blaine knew he had to say it, for his father's sake but also to be able to leave this house in peace. He had to mean it, too. But for some reason, it wasn't very hard to find the right words. Maybe it was knowing that he'd never had to see him again, or maybe he just really felt this way.

'I forgive you.' He swallowed hard. 'I know you hate me and don't want me as your son and you're glad to get rid of me, but I forgive you. I forgive you for everything you did to me, because I pity you. You don't understand what love is, whatever form it may take. You just don't recognize it. And for that, I pity you with whole my heart, so I can't do anything else than just forgive you.'

He let go of Kurt, walked towards his father and stood in front of him for a few seconds, half expecting him to either hug him or hit him, but he just stood there. He just looked at him with an expression that Blaine was never able to define. After a few seconds, his presence got too much to bear for Blaine and Blaine left the room. He walked past his mother and Burt, walked down the stairs and went outside. He sat down beneath the tree next to his window and stared at his father's car, determined not to go back into the house until that car was far gone.

* * *

><p>The car turned a sharp left and with a screeching of tires it disappeared. Blaine heard the sounds but they didn't quite register. He was still in the middle of processing what had happened. He did notice that it had gotten quite a bit warmer outside.<p>

'Do you want some lunch?' a voice asked. He looked up. Kurt was peeking around the corner, stepping out hesitantly. 'We made eggs.'

Blaine shook his head. 'Thanks.'

'Can I sit with you?'

Blaine smiled a little. 'Of course.'

Kurt sat down next to him, pressing his shoulder into Blaine's. 'Are you okay?'

'He's gone, isn't he?' Blaine sighed. He felt Kurt's head nod against his shoulder. 'Then I'm fine.' They were quiet for a while. 'It had to come to this, eventually. I knew it had. But that doesn't mean it wasn't sad or horrible or terrifying.'

'I know,' Kurt said, softly. 'I know.'

They sat like that for a while. Then, Kurt's stomach made a sound that made it quite clear it needed the eggs. They both giggled.

'You want to come inside?' Kurt asked. 'I have to warn you though, your mother and my father were both singing your praises and bashing on your dad pretty much continuously while we were fixing lunch.'

Blaine got up and held out his hand for Kurt. 'I think I'm going to be fine. I feel oddly… relieved.'

Kurt took Blaine's hand and got up, using the upwards movement to throw his arms around Blaine's neck. He kissed him softly. 'Let's go get some eggs.'


	8. Epilogue: I think I'll be alright

_So thanks again to everyone who read my little Klaine fic :) It started out as just a simple idea: let's write a songfic about Candles! And then it turned into a 14k fic, lol. Well, this is the fluffy epilogue I promised. I hope you like it, and if you do, don't hesitate to let me know (by the way, the same goes if you don't like it, just tell me haha). Hope to see you around, I might write some more in the near future! Keep your eye out for new stuff :)_

_x Janneke_

* * *

><p>E P I L O G U E<p>

'Wow, déjà vu.'

Blaine's head snapped up and saw Kurt peeking around the door of his room, holding two steaming cups of what looked like coffee.

'What, you mean me with my head on my arms looking defeated and alone and you bringing me coffee?' Blaine said, smiling as he let Kurt into the room. There were still some unpacked boxes but most of his stuff had found a place.

Kurt nodded, sat down on the bed and handed Blaine his cup. 'Medium drip, the way you… Wait, I don't even know if that's the way you like it.' He frowned.

Blaine sniggered and sat down next to Kurt, taking a sip. 'Mmm. That's exactly the way I like it. Well, it is now.' He took another long swig. 'Thanks.'

'So why exactly were you looking defeated and alone?' Kurt asked tentatively, expecting to hear Blaine talk about his father or being nostalgic about Waterford.

Blaine gestured towards his desk, where some opened books and a lot of paper were cluttering up the surface. 'Stupid Calculus didn't get any easier and Ethan doesn't pick up his phone so I can't ask him what I'm doing wrong here. I thought maybe McKinley would have a less – What?'

Kurt was trying so hard to stifle his laugh and swallow his coffee properly at the same time his head was slowly turning red. When he was finally able to get rid of his coffee without staining Blaine's new sheets, he grinned at Blaine, relieved. 'I thought you were… Well, never mind what I thought.'

'No, tell me!' Blaine said, putting away his now empty cup. He pulled his legs up to the bed and stared at Kurt menacingly. 'Tell me, or I won't kiss you for a day.'

Kurt raised his eyebrows. 'You really think that's going to work?'

Blaine was in the middle of thinking up some witty retort when his train of thought was roughly interrupted by a pair of lips crashing into his. Okay, maybe it wasn't going to work. He felt fingers tangling into his curls and he heard Kurt inhale sharply when he put his hand on the small of Kurt's back, drawing him in ever so close.

Then, Kurt pulled away. Blaine pouted. 'Did I do something wrong?'

Kurt shook his head. 'No no no no. I just thought you'd like to know I could help you with your Calculus homework. I'm a maths genius.'

'You're kidding.'

'I thought I told you – I never kid,' Kurt replied, grinning.

Blaine put both his hands on either side of Kurt's face and stared at him intently. 'I love you.'

Kurt smiled. 'If that's the reward for helping you with your homework, I'm never letting you do your homework by yourself ever again.'

'I'm not kidding,' Blaine said softly.

'Neither am I.' Kurt kissed him lightly. 'I love you too,' he mumbled into Blaine's lips.


End file.
